MP visits sorting office as complaints about postal delays continue

Royal Mail says a number of staff vacancies can cause problems getting the post out

Complaints about the state of our local postal service led to a visit to the Banbury sorting office by Banbury’s MP last week.

Victoria Prentis was shown around the Royal Mail’s Merton Street base and discussed issues with the postal service, which had been raised with her by constituents.

Following the visit Mrs Prentis said she was told that deliveries were being made to the vast majority of addresses six days a week, when there is mail to deliver. She was told that a system is in place to identify and pull out NHS letters to ensure they are delivered as a priority.

Mrs Prentis said: “I was told that recent challenges have arisen from the loss of some experienced staff which has led to knowledge gaps in those areas most affected. With unemployment so low locally, the Customer Operations Lead has found recruiting replacements challenging. Although seven new postmen and women have been onboarded in the past few months, the team are looking to fill more positions.”

She concluded that it was clear from her visit that delivering a reliable service remained the team’s top priority.

Since her visit accusations have appeared online claiming that postal deliveries continue to be missed. One person asserted that parcels were prioritised over standard mail and that Mrs Prentis did not see a real picture of what was happening.

A spokesperson for Royal Mail has refuted this.

They told Banbury FM: “We confirmed with [Mrs Prentis] that mail deliveries are taking place to the majority of addresses served by Banbury Delivery Office six days a week, when there is mail to be delivered to an address (it’s not always the case, not every home has mail daily).

“However, due to a number of vacancies, this is sometimes not possible and on these occasions we will rotate deliveries and deliver every other day. This is always a temporary solution and we are working hard to further improve the service to customers in Banbury so that we deliver consistently six days a week to all addresses. Part of this work is active recruitment.

“We do not prioritise parcels unless it’s a health and safety matter, which requires us to increase the space in the DO [distribution office] so people can move safely and mail can move efficiently.”